Debate contribution: Reducing Barriers to All-Ireland Student Mobility

Debate contribution by Ms Diana Armstrong on 28 April 2025.

MLA

Ms Diana Armstrong

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

28 April 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Reducing Barriers to All-Ireland Student Mobility

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4914097

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Member who moved the motion and will speak in favour of the motion and the amendment. The motion discusses the disparities between the two systems. Of course, it is a positive aspiration to increase all-Ireland student mobility, but I want to look at this from another angle. We absolutely should want young people across the island to have access to the best educational opportunities. However, while we work to remove barriers, we need to stay focused on the central challenge, which is that Northern Ireland needs to retain and build its skills base if we want to grow our economy. That job starts at home. Northern Ireland already faces a major skills drain. Over 5,000 of our young people leave every year to study elsewhere, often never returning. We cannot afford to lose even more of our talent, especially when our productivity remains amongst the lowest in these islands. For instance, a recent study showed that only 30% of students who leave Northern Ireland for their studies return to work here. It is worth remembering that Northern Ireland has a major competitive advantage: our undergraduate tuition fees are among the lowest in the UK and are relatively low compared with those in the Republic of Ireland. That should be a selling point for retaining our students and for attracting others to study here, not an encouragement for our students to study elsewhere to the detriment of our universities. If we are serious about creating a skills-led economy, we must invest at home. We already have world-class universities in Belfast and Londonderry, with Queen's and Ulster. It is essential that we continue to support their growth. While I understand the reasoning behind the motion, I question the proposers' desire to promote more students going across the border while they cheerlead the expansion of Magee. We should be focused on student mobility within Northern Ireland and on removing barriers for those who wish to study here to support our university sector and the wider local economy, although, if we are to have greater cooperation on further education across the island, it must be focused on core subjects such as medicine and STEM to support our skills shortages. Yes, let us work to reduce obstacles to all-Ireland study where it makes sense, but let us be clear: our top priority must be to build the skills and retain the talent that Northern Ireland needs for the future. That means investing in our universities, in affordable housing for our students and in promoting Northern Ireland as a world-class and accessible place to study and build a life.

436 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:28 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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